1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a connector having a plate-like socket contact, and more particularly, to a connector comprising a body having a socket contact and a cap integrally molded on the rear end face of the body so as to cover the connection between the socket contact and a cord.
2. The Prior Art
One example of the prior art connector of the type concerned is illustrated in FIG. 1. The connector shown comprises a generally rectangular body 11 made of resin material having a plurality of contact holes 12 formed therein in a predetermined array. Mounted in each of the contact holes 12 is a socket contact 13 the side view and cross-sectional view of which are shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, respectively. Each contact hole 12 comprises a vertically elongated slot 12a extending from the front end face of the body rearwardly halfway to the rear end face and a transversely elongated slot 12b extending through the body from the front end face to the rear end face thereof and traversing the vertically elongated slot 12a, with the vertically elongated slot 12a and the transversely elongated slot 12b being cooperative to define a contact accommodating aperture 12A having a cross-shaped cross-section. The socket contacts 13 are press-fitted or snap-fitted into the respective transversely elongated slots 12b from the rear end face of the body 11 to be thereby secured to the body. Connected by soldering to the protuberance 14 of each socket contact 13 protruding from the rear end face of the body 11 is the corresponding core wire 16 of the cord 15, and a cap 17 is integrally molded on the rear end face of the body 11 so as to cover the connections between the socket contacts and the cord.
The socket contact 13, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B which are the side view and cross-sectional view of the contact 13 taken along the line 2B--2B in FIG. 2A, respectively, is in the form of a plate having one end portion bifurcated like a fork to define a pair of resilient or spring contact blades 18 adapted to hold the pin contact of a mating connector. The base 19 of the socket contact 13 joining the contact blades 18 have press-fitting detents 21 protruding from the opposite sides thereof. It is to be noted that the protuberance 14 of the socket contact 13 protruding from the rear end face at the other end of the body 11 is slightly bent arcuately along its opposite lateral edges, as shown in a cross-sectional view in FIG. 2B.
When viewed in another aspect, the contact hole 12 formed in the body 11 comprises the contact accommodating aperture 12A which is a forward portion of the hole, and a contact locking slot 12B joining with and extending from the forward aperture 12A to the rear end face of the body 11, as seen in FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C which are the front view, longitudinal cross-sectional view and rear view of the body 11, respectively. The contact locking slot 12B is a rectangular aperture complementary to the rectangular cross-section of the base 19 of the socket contact 13.
The socket contact 13 is pressed into the contact hole 12 from the rear end face of the body 11 until the detents 21 of the base 19 of the socket contact 13 fitted into the contact locking slot 12B whereby the socket contact 13 is locked to the body 11 while at the same time the locking slot 12B is plugged with the body 11 to prevent resin material from leaking into the contact hole 12 while the cap 17 is molded from resin material.
The spring contact blades 18 of the socket contact 13 are received in the criss-cross contact accommodating aperture 12A with the forward ends of the blades positioned adjacent the front end face of the body 11. The pin contact 24 is in the form of a plate-like pin having a rectangular cross-section as shown in FIG. 4 and is inserted in between the two contact blades 18 such that it forms a criss-cross with respect to the socket contact 13. Accordingly, the vertically elongated slot 12a enlarged so as to form a criss-cross with respect to the rearward contact locking slot 12B in the criss-cross aperture 12A has a vertical height sufficient to accommodate the pin contact 24. It is noted that the forward end of the vertically elongated slot 12a is provided with a taper 25 to facilitate the insertion of the pin contact 24.
If the contact hole 12 is to be formed in the process of molding the body 11 as described above, it is required to use a mold insert 51 comprising, for example, a criss-cross columnar portion 51A having a criss-cross cross-section complementary in shape to the criss-cross contact accommodating aperture 12A and a rearward plate portion 51B complementary in shape to the contact locking slot 12B, extending from one of the criss-cross legs of the columnar portion 51A, as shown in FIG. 5A. In order to make the mold insert 51 removable from the molded part upon completion of the molding, it is to be understood that the forward end portion of the criss-cross contact accommodating aperture 12A should not be narrowed relative to the rearward plate portion 51B of the mold insert 51, so that the entire forward end portion of socket contact 13 is visible from the exterior of the front end face of the body 11. Consequently, should an excessive force be exerted on the socket contact 13 by a round pin contact, for instance, of a different type of connector plug in an attempt to forcedly insert such round pin into this connector socket by mistake, the socket contact 13 could possibly be deformed.
In order to avert such drawback, it is possible to use a criss-cross mold insert 51 as illustrated in FIG. 5B comprising a vertically elongated rectangular plate portion 51a shaped complementarily to the vertically elongated slot 12a and extending through the body 11 from the rear end face to the front end face, and ridge portions 51b transversely extending from the opposite sides of the plate portion 51a and extending longitudinally from the rear end face and terminating short of the front end face of the body, said ridge portions being complementary in shape to the transversely elongated slot 12b. It is to be understood that the mold insert 51 shown in FIG. 5B makes it possible to form a contact hole 12 only the vertically elongated slot 12a of which is visible from the front end face while the forward end of the transversely elongated slot 12b is concealed behind the front end face so that the forward ends of the socket contact 13. In this case, however, it should be noted that a criss-cross opening is formed in the rear end face of the body 11. Consequently, even if the socket contact 13 is pressed from the rear end face of the body into the transversely elongated slot 12b of the thus formed contact hole 12, the rearward portion of the vertically elongated slot 12a extending from the rear end face into the body remains open as such. This will allow resin material to enter into the contact hole through the exposed rearward portion of the vertically elongated slot 12a when molding a cap 17 integrally onto the rear end portion of the body 11, making it difficult to produce a normal connector.